These are the exact sites I use when licensing music for my wedding films. The list runs from the most expensive site I use, which has amazing artists and amazing songs, all the way down to the dirt cheapest one that still has music you’ll be shocked you can get for the money.
So wherever you are on the spectrum, whether you’ve been filming weddings for years or you’re doing them for free right now and have no money, there’s something here.
Before this one, go watch the previous video on how I actually choose the music: how I meet with a couple, learn their likes and dislikes, and pick songs that fit them and their day. Then come back here and you’ll know where to license what you found.
An important note before the prices: this is from July 2017. Every number below was accurate then and several of these companies have changed pricing model since, one of them has changed name, and at least one no longer exists in the form described. Read this for how the tiers work and what each site is for, then check the current pricing yourself.
Marmoset, $99 A Track
My favorite, and the most expensive. Do not dismiss them on that alone.
The reason I love them is that the selection isn’t generic. It doesn’t sound like what you get everywhere else. If you need something a bit strange, something you wouldn’t automatically associate with a wedding film, Marmoset is where that lives, and it’s where I go first every time.
The other reason is the search, which is the most creative I’ve seen anywhere. You can search by mood, by character, by story. You can literally drill into your characters, say they’re getting married and they’re in love, and it will hand you music that matches.
But the one that changed how I work is searching by the arc of the song. You can ask for a song that starts quiet and builds. Or one that starts loud and drops away. Or one with hills and valleys, quiet then loud then quiet then loud again. Songs with variety are what I’m always hunting for, and being able to search for that shape directly makes finding music enormously faster.
The one real con: they aren’t a wedding-specific platform, so plenty of what’s on there is built for short films or documentaries and won’t work for a wedding. You do have to dig.
Musicbed, $49 A Track
Do I really need to introduce them? They were one of the first companies to license music affordably to wedding filmmakers, so most people already know. Huge library, great songs.
The complaint I’ve heard for years is that everything on Musicbed sounds alike, and I understand where it comes from. A couple of years ago the browse page led with the most downloaded songs, so everyone licensing music went to browse, took something off the front page, and never clicked deeper. Of course it all started sounding the same. I’m looking at you, Ben Rector. I’m looking at you, Tony Anderson. I love both of you and I’ve used plenty of your songs. White Dress, hello, yes, me too, sorry.
The fix is to stop browsing the front page. Their playlists are genuinely good and they add to them constantly. And if you subscribe to the newsletter, every Tuesday they push new artists and email you about it. That’s become a ritual here: Rachel and I sit down with the Tuesday songs and go, that one’s good for a wedding, that one’s really good.
One deal worth knowing: if you license the lyrical version of a track, the instrumental is half price, and vice versa. So instead of paying full price twice, it’s $49 and then $25.
PremiumBeat, $49 A Track
I don’t reach for them as much as I used to, but two features keep them on the list.
Every license comes with multiple cuts of the song, a 15, a 30 and a 60 second version, included.
And more importantly, that one $49 license covers unlimited other projects. Another wedding six months later where you can’t afford a new track? Reuse it, you’re covered. Want it in a commercial for a company? Covered. That is a very different value proposition from per-project licensing.
Artlist, $199 A Year
Now we move to the subscription tier, which is where I’d point you if you’re starting out.
Artlist is $199 a year for unlimited access to the whole library. That’s the cost of two Marmoset licenses, for unlimited music.
The bigger deal is the licensing structure. With Marmoset, Musicbed and PremiumBeat you pay different amounts depending on use: one price for a wedding, more for corporate, hundreds to thousands for broadcast. With Artlist all of that is inside the $199. Wedding films, corporate videos, whatever you want.
Speaking of which, The BEST Music Licensing Sites For Wedding Films In 2022 is worth a look too.
Soundstripe, $135 A Year
$135 a year, or $15 a month, and cheaper if you pay annually. Unlimited downloads, same as Artlist.
What I like is that they are actively going after wedding filmmakers. Log in and there are playlists like songs for wedding receptions and beautiful music for wedding highlights. You don’t have to dig to find things that will work, which matters a lot when you’re starting out and everything feels overwhelming.
The honest caveat: like Artlist, they’re a smaller platform, around a hundred artists when I made this. They’re adding constantly, but know that before you spend your money.
Song Freedom, Becoming Firefly
Someone is going to say I forgot Song Freedom. I didn’t.
Song Freedom lets you license mainstream artists you can’t get anywhere else. OneRepublic. Phillip Phillips. Lady Gaga. When did you last hear a Lady Gaga song in a wedding video and assume it wasn’t licensed? It probably was, through them.
The reason they aren’t higher up the list is that they’re mid-rebrand to Firefly and moving from per-track, around $60, to a $500 a year subscription. That’s more than Soundstripe and Artlist combined, and it’s unlimited downloads, except that in the fine print the top 40 songs are still $10 a track. So, Lady Gaga: ten dollars. Sorry about that.
Filmstro, $25 A Month
The last one is a bit weird, which is exactly why I wanted to include it. Filmstro is part subscription library and part software, and it lets you become a sort of composer.
You install their app and it pulls their library down to your machine. The songs aren’t finished tracks in the normal sense. The drums, strings and other instruments are separated out, but you’re not editing layers by hand. Instead you adjust sliders for mood, energy, power and momentum, and the song rebuilds around that.
If you’ve ever dug through every site you own and still couldn’t find the song, because you needed it to have a big grand moment right here and then calm down right there, this is the answer. You just make it yourself.
$25 a month or $250 a year. Have I used it a lot? Honestly, no. But nothing else in this space does what it does.
Two coupon codes worth using while you’re there: WHOISMATT gets you 10% off a monthly or yearly Soundstripe subscription, and WHOISMATT20_ANN gets you 20% off a yearly Filmstro license. The Artlist link above adds two free months. Several of the links in this post are affiliate links.